Male hospital worker accused of molesting male patient at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital when taking blood pressure
SINGAPORE — Accused of molesting a young male patient, a man who is a hospital worker claimed trial on Thursday (July 4).Danisha Nur Delisa Dewa, 38, faces a charge of outrage of modesty for touching the patient's groin thrice over the patient's hospital gown.
Danisha, who was working as a basic care assistant then, allegedly did this at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital on Jan 27, 2023.
TODAY has asked the hospital if he is still working there.
The patient, now a 23-year-old university student, cannot be named due to a court order protecting his identity.
During the first day of the hearing that lasted more than five hours, the patient testified in court and became increasingly uncomfortable as he recounted how Danisha touched his private parts.
He told the court that he was scheduled for surgery on Jan 27, 2023 for his right shoulder and reached the hospital sometime in the late morning.
He changed into a hospital gown and disposable underwear as instructed by a nurse.
After that, he was asked to wait in a room until it was time for the surgery. While waiting, he fell asleep.
He said: "Sometime in the afternoon, I was woken up by what I believed was a male nurse because he was wearing the blue Ng Teng Fong (General Hospital) uniform."
The duo made small talk before Danisha asked him if he wanted to recline his chair to sleep more comfortably.
Danisha then allegedly asked if he was wearing underwear and lifted the hospital gown to check before the patient could respond.
"After that, he proceeded to recline the chair and closed the curtain around the chair," the patient added.
"He proceeded to take my blood pressure using a machine... As the machine was running, he pressed my groin three times and asked if I was feeling (any) pain.
"I replied no, I wasn't (in pain). Once the machine was done running, he put the machine back behind him, opened the curtain and left."
When asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ethan Lee how that made him feel, the patient said he initially assumed that what Danisha allegedly did was "part of normal procedure" since he was a hospital employee.
However, after thinking about it for "about 20 to 30 minutes", he felt increasingly "uneasy and uncomfortable". That was when he decided to approach a nurse to ease his mind.
As he got out of his seat, a female nurse from the operating ward approached him to inform him that the surgery was about to start. He then recounted the incident to her and two other nurses. They all confirmed that what Danisha supposedly did was not part of normal procedures.
"I think at this point, I looked quite panicked, so (one of the nurses) tried to comfort me to focus on my surgery... and she said she would look into it."
He then went for the surgery.
After waking up, the patient told a friend who worked at the hospital as well as his own parents what had happened. He then made a police report.
When asked by the prosecution how the incident affected him, the patient said that he felt ashamed. "And that's why I haven't talked about it to anyone else except my family members."
WHAT THE DEFENCE SAYS
Danisha's lawyer Teo Choo Kee from law firm CK Teo & Co told the court that his client disputed touching the patient inappropriately.Mr Teo said that Danisha had asked if the patient felt pain when the blood pressure machine began running.
Mr Teo also told the court that Danisha had asked the patient if he wanted a pillow and retrieved one for him.
During the cross-examination, the lawyer questioned if the patient had "dreamt up" the incident, pointing out that he had been asleep before that.
However, the patient refuted this.
The lawyer then began to point out several discrepancies between the patient's testimony in court and the statement given to the police on the day of the incident.
These included which hand Danisha had used to touch the patient, and if he had pressed the patient's genitals from right to left or from left to right.
When asked, the patient told the court that the police report was the "most accurate", saying that it has been almost 1.5 years since the alleged molestation and he could not remember every detail because "it was traumatic".
"I would trust a report made 1.5 hours after the incident versus (a verbal recount) 1.5 years after the incident," the patient added.
The trial continues.
If found guilty of outrage of modesty, Danisha could be jailed for up to three years, fined, caned or be penalised by any combination of the three.
